A series of foundation phase dictionaries for a multilingual environment

Rufus H Gouws,Mawande Dlali,Danie J Prinsloo

doi:10.5774/43-0-158

Rufus H Gouws, Mawande Dlali + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.5774/43-0-158

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Abstract

The aim of this article is to reflect on the design and use of the Maskew Miller Longman series of dictionaries published in several different official languages of South Africa and aimed at learners in the foundation phase of primary school. It will be argued that when planning new dictionaries such as these, lexicographers should have the user perspective as point of departure by compiling user-friendly dictionaries suitable for the level of first-time dictionary users. Lexicographers should furthermore negotiate the position of the envisaged dictionary within a broader family of dictionaries – an approach that sees dictionary use as an integral part of a process of life-long learning, thereby establishing and promoting a dictionary culture.

Highlights

One of the recent developments in lexicographic practice has been a change in the approach to traditional typological classifications
Zgusta 1971) and, in the planning and compilation of new dictionaries, lexicographers usually adhered to these categories by producing dictionaries that complied with the criteria devised for the relevant typological category
A question any lexicographer has to answer with regard to a new dictionary project is no longer to which typological category the dictionary should belong, but rather what the lexicographer wants the intended target user to be able to do with the specific dictionary; this will determine the typological classification of the dictionary

Summary

Introduction

One of the recent developments in lexicographic practice has been a change in the approach to traditional typological classifications. When looking at different age groups, the curriculum of the respective grades needs to be negotiated in order to decide on the contents and presentation of data in a given dictionary. In this regard, a dictionary like Nuwe Woordeboek Sonder Grense (Gouws, Stark and Gouws 2004) was directed at users in grades four to six with Afrikaans as their third or fourth language. An interesting aspect in this regard is a focus on non-traditional user groups, e.g. http://spil.journals.ac.za second-language speakers as well as new subcategories of school dictionaries, e.g. for users of different age groups. In this paper the emphasis will be on foundation phase dictionaries, with special reference to the series published by Maskew Miller Longman, and with differentiation between four of the dictionaries in this series, i.e. MML Afrikaans/English (Gouws, Potgieter and Burgess 2010), MML isiXhosa/English (Dlali 2010), MML Sepedi/English (Mabule 2010) and MML Setswana/English (Ramagoshi 2010), where required in the following discussion

The lexicographic context of the series of foundation phase dictionaries

Motivation for the Maskew Miller Longman foundation phase dictionaries

Structures in foundation phase dictionaries

The frame structure

Other outer texts

Challenges and considerations